Busch holds off Edwards to win Nationwide race

Sunday

FONTANA, Calif. (AP) — Kyle Busch used pit strategy to take a late lead and held off Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick to win his third straight Nationwide race at Auto Club Speedway yesterday.

Nationwide

Saturday

Kyle Busch wins the Royal Purple 300.

Columbia’s Edwards and Harvick traded leads for most of the 150-lap race around the wide 2-mile oval before deciding to get four tires on their final stop with less than 20 laps left.

Busch came in after and opted for two tires, putting him nearly a straightaway ahead after leaving pit road. He had just enough speed to survive a final-lap bump into the wall, winning for the fifth time in his past six races at Fontana.

Busch, who won at Bristol last week, has won three of five Nationwide races and has 46 career victories, two behind Mark Martin’s all-time Nationwide mark.

Busch led just a handful of laps and figured he had little better than a fourth- or fifth-place car, but it was good enough to hang around the lead.

It came down to the final pit stop on a green flag, and Busch stayed out when Edwards then Harvick came into the pits, finally coming in with 13 laps left.

Crew chief Jason Ratcliff initially called for four tires then changed his mind, setting up the will-he-make-it finish. Busch clipped the wall coming out of Turn 2, killing some of his momentum, but he had just enough left to nip Edwards.

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